Apparatus for attaching shoe soles



March 23, 1937.. J j N 2,074,834

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING SHOE SOLES Filed Jan.3. 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Mai-ch 23, 1937. s. J. FINN I 2,074,834

APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING SHOE SOLES Filed Jan. 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2mam/75H.

Patented Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FORATTACHING SHOE SOLES Application January 3, 1935, Serial No. 260

16 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for attaching shoe soles'andespecially to the provision of an improved welt holddown mechanism foruse in machines by which soles are attached to shoes with cement andpressure.

In the cement attachment of a sole to a welt shoe or, indeed, to anyshoe in which the edge portion of the sole projects or extends asubstantial distance beyond the boundary of the lasted upper there isalways the problem of preventing the projecting sole extension fromrolling up toward the upper when the attaching pressure is applied tothe sole. In the case of a welt shoe there is the additional necessityfor pressing the 5 welt and the sole together, to make them adhere toeach other. For these purposes it is often necessary to provide asupport or pressing device of some kind to hold the welt and/or soleextension flat' and to press the Welt and the marginal portion of thesole together.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved weltholddown which will adequately support the sole extension and which willbe capable of applying sufficient pressure to the welt to cause it toadhere securely to the sole,

without materially interfering with the manipulation of the work or itsinsertion in, or removal 1 from, the machine.

A feature of the invention resides in a welt holddown sustained by oneof the relatively movable members, for example the pad support, of aSole attaching press, combined with a pressure device sustained by theother press member and adapted to engage and apply pressure to theholddown when the press is operated to apply pressure to a shoe.

The holddown may comprise a flexible welt supporting member disposedabove the press pad and is. herein illustrated as sustained by a pair ofswinging arms which also carry sole gages and gages for positioning ashoe relatively to the sole, the holddown being interposed between thelastmentioned gages and the shoe.

In this connection, invention is to be recognized in a novel holddownmember comprising a band of relatively firm, somewhat flexible materialhaving one or more sections of relatively soft material to provide alocalized portion or portions of increased flexibility which isparticularly useful in adapting the holddown to shoesof differentvertical contours. I prefer to make the major portion of the holddown offirm rubber with downward-1y tapered flexibility increasing sections ofsofter rubbervulcanized therein at the places 55 where vertical bendingof the band is required.

Other features and advantages of the invention, relating to means foryieldingly sustaining and advantageously operating the holddown, willbecome apparent from reading the follow detailed description of oneembodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a soleattaching apparatusincluding a welt holddown embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a detail of the holddown band adjusting deviceupon an enlarged scale;

and

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation, as viewed from the left-hand side of Fig.2, of the mechanism for efiecting relative approaching movement of thepressure head and the pad support of the machine.

The details of construction of the pad box and pressure head of a soleattaching machine to which a welt holddown embodying the presentinvention is illustrated as applied are fully disclosed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 2,047,- 185, granted July 14, 1936, upon applicationoi. Milton H. Ballard et al., to which patent reference may be had for afull description of such details.

In the drawings, It indicates the pad support, which is shown asconsisting of a pad box, and I2 the pad by which sole attaching pressureis applied to a shoe. Above the pad I2 is a pressure head 332 carrying atoe pad l6 mounted in a toe post It with an interposed stifi spring 20which permits the toe pad to yield upward slightly under heavy pressure.The pressure head 332 corresponds to the member designated by the samereference numeral in the Ballard et a1. patent and relative approachingmovement of the said pressure head and the pad support I!) is effectedby mechanism fully described in the said patent and illustrated in Fig.4 of the drawings annexed hereto, in which the parts are designated bythe same reference numerals as are the same parts in the patent. Asshown, the pressure head 332 is fixed to a rod 334 which is guided forvertical movement in the head portion of an upright 306 and sustained bya spring 336 beneath the outer end of a lever 3l6 which is pivoted on ashaft 3|8 carried by the upright. The inner end of the lever 3l6overlies an actuator 3'54 which is carried by ears 310 secured to theupper end of a piston 356 movable in a fluid pressure cylinder 348. Itwill be apparent that when the piston rises the pressure head 332, willdescend, causing the toe pad I6 to engage and bear firmly upon the topof the toe portion of the lasted shoe 22 in the machine.

In order to support the welt, or sole extension 24 of the shoe againstupward pressure and, in the case of a welt, to press it firmly againstthe surface of the sole being attached, there is provided a novel andimproved welt holddown comprising a band 26 of some firm materialsufficiently flexible to permit it to conform to the periphery of ashoe, said band prefer-ably being so formed that it can enter and fitsnugly in the welt crease of the shoe. I have found a satisfactorymaterial for the holddown band to be rubber of a firm consistency,sufliciently hard to transmit the necessary pressure, yet flexibleenough to be capable of assuming shapes to fit different shoes. Inasmuchas the holddown element 26 is in the form of ,a band standing on edge,its resistance to bending vertically is much greater than its resistanceto horizontal bending and in order to provide sufficient verticalflexibility to permit the .band to conform to the vertical contours ofthe welt creases of different shoes, downwardly tapered sections 28 ofrelatively soft rubber are vulcanized into the band to provide localizedportions of increased flexibility.

The holddown band 26 is illustrated as sustained by a pair of arms 38,32 corresponding to the gage carrying arms disclosed in the Ballard eta1. application above referred to, said arms being pivoted respectivelyfor horizontal swinging movement about pivots 34, 36 and verticalswinging or yielding movement about horizontal pivot pins 38, 40.

I'he toe portion of the band 26 is thinner, and consequently moreflexible than the remainder of the band, as shown in Fig. 1, and issustained by thin metal strips 42 which are secured to the outer face ofthe band 26 along its sides. Lugs 44 which are riveted to the ends ofthe strips '42 are pivotally mounted at 46, in a housing 48 carried by aleaf spring 58 which is, in turn, carried by the swinging arm 30, a slotand pin connection 52 being provided to permit the spring 58 to slidelongitudinally.

Within the housing 48 is a slide 54 to which is fixed a block 56 hearingagainst the sharply curved toe portion of the band 26 and adapted sivelyflattened to fit the toes of shoes which are more nearly square than theone illustrated in the drawings.

In order to provide for making this adjustmen-t quickly and easily asubstantially rectangular cam 58 is secured to a vertical pin 68 in sucha a position that the faces of the cam are at different distances fromthe axis of the pin. The pin is rotatably mounted in the housing 48 andhas fixed to its upper end an index head 62 provided with four notches64 which cooperate with a detent 66. By turning the index head any one,of the four faces of the cam 58 may be presented to the block 56 toposition the block -for different toe curvatures. The spring 50 issufllciently stiff normally to sustain the toe por- .tion of the band 26somewhat above its operative position but is not stiff enough to preventthe band from being depressed easily to engage the welt of the shoe.

The rear ends of the band 26 are yieldingly supported by the rear endsof the arms 30, 32 through the medium of links and springs. Lugs 68 areriveted or otherwise fixed to the outer face of the band. Pivoted to thelugs 68 are links 10 which slide loosely through holes in blocks 12pivoted to the end portions of the arms 30, 32. The sliding links 10 aresurrounded by expansion springs 14 and their inward sliding movement islimited by pins 16 which engage the blocks 12. Secured at 18 to theextreme ends of the arms 38, 32, beyond the pivotal points of the blocks12, are light pull springs having sufficient tension to sustain theweight of the holddown band and draw the ends apart but not sufiicientto overcome and compress the springs 14. Since the links 10 are looseenough in the blocks 12 to .permit them to swing through some distancevertically, the springs 80 will normally hold the band 26 elevated ashort distance above operative position but will yield readily to permitthe band to be depressed and inserted accurately in the welt crease ofthe shoe.

Sole edge gages 82 are carried by the arms 30, 32 which sustain the weltholddown, and shoe positioning gages 84, which are adjustable by meansof levers 36, are also mounted in the arms and arranged to engage theouter face of the welt holddown band.

In the operation of the apparatus a cemented sole is placed upon the padI 2 while the gage arms 30, 32 are swung outwardly and the holddown band26 is opened and maintained sufficiently elevated not to interfere withthe operation. The arms are now swung inwardly until the gages 82 engagethe edge of the sole, in which position the arms are locked againstoutward movement. The prepared shoe is now placed within the holddownband, over the sole, pushed forward, and positioned upon the sole. Theforward movement of the shoe pushes the band 26 forward, as permitted bythe sliding connection 52, and the links 18, acting in the manner of atoggle, close the rear portions of the band inward upon the shoe, theinward pressure of the band upon the shoe being determined by thetension of the springs H. The engagement of the band in the welt creaseof the shoe may be inspected and perfected very easily by reason of theyielding mounting of the band but the position of the shoe will be.accurately determined by the gages 84 which are unyielding in theirengagement of the outer face of the band. The

work is now ready for the application of the sole attaching pressure byrelative approaching movement of the pad support 18 and the pressurehead 332.

In order to apply pressure to the holddown band 26, which is roughlyU-shaped, there is pro.- vided a U-shaped pressure device 88 surroundingthe toe pad Hi and sustained by the pressure head 332. The pressuredevice 88 may advantageously be made of rubber somewhat softer than thatemployed for the band 26 but firm enough to transmit the necessary"amount of pressure, with some yield. In order to accommodate thepressure device 88 to various degrees of tilting of the shoe and theholddown band 26, the pressure device is mounted in a holder 90 one endof which is pivotally supported at 92 and to the other end of which ispivoted at 94 a notched link 96 acted upon by a spring 98 tending toswing it to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, with one of the notches inengagement with a pin I08 carried by a bracket )2 mounted upon thepressure head332. By virtue of this construction any one of the notchesin the link 86 may be 7 engaged with the pin I00 and the tilt of thepressure device carrier 90 adjusted accordingly.

When the pressure is applied by the machine the toe pad l6 engages theshoe, yielding upward slightly against the tension of the spring 20, andthe pressure device 83 engages the top of the welt holddown band 26,pressing the latter firmly upon the welt or sole extension but yieldingby reason of its own inherent yielding quality, and a spring I04 withwhich it is backed up if such yielding is necessary to avoid excessivepressure on the work.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to besecured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A welt holddown comprising a flexible welt engaging member adapted toextend about the periphery of a shoe, a longitudinally slidable supportfor the toe portion of said member, and laterally swinging supports forthe two sides of said member.

2. A welt holddown comprising a welt crease engaging member having aflexible toe portion, means for supporting the member at both sides ofsaid toe portion, an adjustable block mounted in front of said toeportion, and means for moving the block longitudinally of the holddownto cause it to bear against more or less of said toe portion to vary thecurvature thereof.

3. In a sole attaching apparatus, a pad adapted to apply pressure to thesole of a shoe, a welt holddown comprising a flexible welt supportingmember disposed above the pad, a pair of pivoted arms, a pair of soleedge gages carried by said arms, and a pair of links pivotallyconnecting said arms to the side portions of the welt supporting member.

4. In a sole attaching apparatus, a pad adapted to apply pressure to thesole of a shoe, a pair of arms pivotally mounted to swing over the pad,a welt holddown disposed above the pad, means for supporting the. toeportion of the holddown to move longitudinally of the pad and to yieldeasily downward, and means carried by said arms for supporting the sideportions of the holddown to swing inward toward the shoe and to yieldeasily downward.

5. In a sole attaching apparatus, a pad, a pair of arms pivotallymounted to swing over the pad, sole edge gages carried by the arms, awelt holddown sustained by the arms, and shoe positioning gages upon thearms arranged to engage the outer face of the holddown.

6. A welt holddown comprising a flexible, U- shaped, welt engagingmember adapted to extend about the periphery of a shoe, vertically andhorizontally movable supports for the ends of said member, and means forexerting an outward and upward pull upon the ends of said member.

'7. A welt holddown comprising a flexible, U- shaped band adapted toextend about the periphery of a shoe, means for supporting the sides ofthe band, leaving the toe portion free to bend, an adjustable toeshaping member mounted in front of said toe portion, and means formoving said member longitudinally of the holddown to cause it to bearagainst the toe portion of the band to determine the curvature thereof.

8. A sole attaching apparatus comprising a pad support, a pad upon thesupport, a welt hold-down sustained by the pad sup-port, a pressure headabove the pad for engagement with a shoe upon the pad, and a pressuredevice upon the head arranged to engage and bear down upon the weltholddown.

9. A sole attaching apparatus comprising a relatively movable padsupport and pressure head, a pad upon said support, shoe engaging meansupon the head, a welt holddown sustained by one of the relativelymovable members, and a holddown engaging pressure device sustained bythe other of said members.

10. A sole attaching apparatus comprising a pad, a welt holddownsustained above the pad, a vertically movable, holddown engaging,pressure device of yielding material sustained above the holddown, andmeans for effecting relative approaching movement of the pressure deviceand the holddown.

11. A sole attaching apparatus comprising a pad, a flexible, U-shaped,welt holddown sustained above the pad, and a U-shaped, rubber, pressuredevice movable into and out of engagement with the holddown.

12. A welt holddown comprising a band of relatively firm, somewhatflexible material having a section of relatively soft material toprovide a localized portion of increased flexibility.

13. A welt holddown comprising a band of relatively firm, somewhatflexible material having a tapered section of relatively soft materialto provide a localized portion which can be bent easily in onedirection.

14. A welt holddown comprising a band of relatively firm, somewhatflexible material adapted to conform horizontally to the shape of thewelt crease of a shoe and having a vertically tapered section ofrelatively soft material to provide a localized portion which can bebent easily in a vertical direction.

15. A welt holddown comprising a band of relatively firm, somewhatflexible material adapted to conform horizontally to the shape of thewelt crease of a shoe, said band being higher than it is thick andhaving a plurality of downwardly tapered sections of relatively softmaterial to provide for vertical bending of the band to conform to thevertical shape of said welt crease.

16. A welt holddown comprising a band of firm, stiff, rubber ofsufficient flexibility to permit the band to conform horizontally to theshape of the welt crease of a shoe but to resist bending vertically,said band having a plurality of downwardly tapered sections of softerrubber vulcanized therein to provide localized portions which can bebent more easily vertically to conform the band to the vertical shape ofthe welt crease.

SIDNEY J. FINN.

